The present invention relates to apparatus for utilization in presses for shaping and curing tires. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for blowing out the lower mold section of a press for shaping and curing tires between the time of removal of a cured tire and the time that a green or uncured tire carcass is inserted for a subsequent shaping and/or curing operation. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus for removing foreign matter from the lower mold section of a tire shaping and curing press by the positioning of a movable source of pressurized fluid in proximate relation to the lower mold section for loosening and clearing residual foreign matter from a curing cycle to preclude the formation of defects or other anomalies in tires to be processed during subsequent curing cycles.
Attention has long been given to the problem of effecting sufficient removal of residual foreign matter from a mold subsequent to the curing of a tire and prior to the insertion of a further tire for subsequent shaping and/or curing operations. In early curing press applications, a hose and nozzle configuration attached to a source of compressed air was normally manually manipulated with respect to the lower mold section between tire removal and insertion for the elimination of "tramp rubber" in the form of pin vent particles and other foreign material created during the curing and removal of a tire from the molds of a press. Efforts to effect removal of such foreign matter by a manually manipulated air source were and remain generally unsatisfactory in most instances due to the difficulties in appropriately positioning the hose and nozzle in the necessary positions relative to the lower mold section. These difficulties are brought about by the reach limitations of an individual, the inaccessibility of certain portions of the mold, and the size and configuration of the molds, particularly in respect to truck and larger size curing presses. Efforts at such manual removal of foreign material, to the extent successful, were accompanied by substantial risk to the press operators due to the temperature of the mold and related components during the cleaning cycle and the necessity for positioning a nozzle in relatively close proximity to the mold section for successfully effecting removal of the foreign matter.
More recently, efforts have been made to increase the effectiveness of the removal of foreign material from lower mold sections while coincidentally reducing the danger to press operators. These efforts have resulted in the development of pressurized fluid systems positioned outwardly of the mold registry area on the press and consisting of one or more nozzles directed toward the lower mold section and connected through suitable valving to effect the dispensing of a fluid for removal of foreign matter in an appropriate timing sequence in relation to the press operating cycle. Such automated operation was also effective to reduce the attention required by press operators during the evolution of largely automated presses.
However, such nozzle installations positioned exteriorly of the mold registry area and normally outwardly of the shield area have proved to be less than satisfactory under many circumstances since the fluid discharged from the nozzles must effect foreign matter removal across substantially the entire diameter of the mold and discharge from the diametrically opposite portion thereof. This is particularly true in conjunction with larger mold configurations due to the extreme spacing between the nozzles and portions of the mold area to be cleaned. This distance becomes even more critical due to the limitations with respect to normally available sources of air pressure in a conventional factory environment. Further, the positioning of a few nozzles exteriorly of the mold registry area necessarily creates areas of the mold which are either totally unaffected or substantially unaffected by the fluid expelled from nozzles so positioned. The use of more than a few nozzles thus positioned would result in intersecting fluid streams which would necessarily derogate from the effectiveness of each of the fluid streams thus involved.